MovieChat Forums > A Few Good Men (1992) Discussion > Would the colonel also get in trouble fo...

Would the colonel also get in trouble for lying under oath?


Would that also be added to his charges?

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Probably. Small potatoes compared to everything else. His career is over, he spends the rest of his useful adulthood in a cell in Leavenworth while everyone he ever knew insists they never met him.

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Lol, he's a full bird Colonel who clearly had some juice. That guy is not going to Leavenworth! His career is absolutely done and he's getting administratively discharged, but he'll be fine.

Realistically, a year after that trial, he would have been working as an executive for a Private contractor making a handsome salary.

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Given his record of prior service, I'll bet he doesn't do much time, if any.

He gets hit with conduct unbecoming for ordering the code red and trying to cover it up, so likely dishonorably discharged.

His perjury is not small potatoes though, since he was lying to cover a frame-up and potentially letting two of his own men go down on a phony murder rap

But Jessup didn't murder Santiago. He could not have expected that the code red would result in Santiago's death

He does some time, then gets his own AM talk radio station. A few years later, Rupert Murdoch hires him as a frequent talking head on his new channel, "Fox News."

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That all depends upon what Captain Ross has to say when he is arrested. Does Ross go down by himself or does he say that Jessup ordered the illegal code red?

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Actually they would probably need to charge him with perjury. That's the only slam dunk conviction they have on him. He did not order Santiago to be killed, nor is there any evidence that he intended for that to happen. Also there may not be any direct evidence that he tampered with evidence, or obstructed justice. Given his reputation and record prior to all this, it's likely he could muster up a strong defense team, which we just saw how valuable that could be.

So in the end, he's convicted of perjury, and conduct unbecoming of a Marine. He does a year in military prison, then is dishonorable discharged. He ends up with a cushy consulting job for some military contracted company, and or as a talking head on cable news.

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In the UCMJ there is no such thing as "conduct unbecoming a Marine". There is "conduct unbecoming an officer"; article 133. Can be punished for up to a year.

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He did make an illegal order however, he did order Santiago to be assaulted which is conspiracy and he could be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

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He did not order Santiago to be killed, nor is there any evidence that he intended for that to happen.


Jessup could be charged with first degree murder.

He ordered the code red, which was illegal, and Santiago died as a consequence.

This falls under the “felony murder rule”. Which means that if you commit a separate felony and, as consequence, someone is killed, you get charged with first degree murder.

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Yeah but that’s the least of his offenses. Kind of like how in Wolf of Wall Street driving under the influence was the least of Jordan Belfort’s offenses.

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